The locals are always friendly back home, England 2025

One of the last checks I do in a novel before I send it to my publisher is a voice check. I read through every main character’s dialogue from beginning to end, and only that dialogue, to make sure they each sound consistently like them. Because how a person speaks not only reflects their mindset and personality, but also their individual background and upbringing.

I was reminded of this myself on a recent visit to England. It was so lovely to hear people in my hometown not only sounding like me (though having now lived in Australia for over twenty years, I have a clear Aussie twang), but communicating like me too – with questions rather than statements or opinions.

My Australian born/bred family are a lot more direct. For example, when discussing what to watch on TV of a night, I might say, ‘We could watch Planet of the Apes?’. What I mean of course is ‘I would like to watch Planet of the Apes’, and when my kids and husband realise this a few comments later, frustration abounds. 

‘Why didn’t you just say so?’ 

‘I did.’

‘No, you made a suggestion.’

The ways we speak can be oceans apart, Bournemouth Pier 2025

But that ’suggestion’ was just my polite way of expressing what I’d like to do! And when I was back in my hometown, I found myself surrounded by hundreds of people all communicating in the exact same way!

‘You might just want to mind your back there a moment?’ they’d suggest, instead of the more direct Aussie version: ‘Scuse, mate.’

‘There could be somewhere closer to town?’ is how my brother replied when discussing whether to stop at a service station, instead of the Aussie: ‘Nah, let’s keep going.’

‘Shall we just park here if it’s not too late?’ I suggested, instead of shouting out: ‘There’s a park!’

What am I describing here? Wordiness? Meandering? A polite meandering wordiness? Whatever it is, I like it. It feels like home. It’s what I was raised on, and I find it decidedly delightful.

Characters have their own ways of talking too. Sometimes the differences can be subtle, and sometimes they can be more dramatic. Still, differences are always there, offering us resonance with our own lives. Indeed, I wonder if our favourite characters are the ones who speak similarly to the way we do ourselves?

Have a think and let me know!